The Setter30

The Setter30 is SetterVC's ranking of sought-after venture-backed private companies in the secondary market. It is intended to show where private-market buyer demand is concentrated during a given period. The Setter30 is not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any company's shares, and inclusion on the Setter30 does not mean a company is a good investment.

The Setter30 ranks sought-after venture-backed private companies based on secondary-market demand signals. These signals include buy requests submitted through SetterVC.com and market feedback from active buyers in the private secondary market. The ranking is designed to show where buyer interest is concentrated during a given quarter. Claire Zau of Lightspeed Venture Partners described the Setter30 as "the 30 most in demand startups in secondaries right now" and "basically a list of which private companies investors are most desperately trying to buy into." That description captures the Setter30's purpose as a market-demand ranking, not a recommendation or investment rating. The Setter30 is not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold shares of any company, and inclusion on the Setter30 does not mean shares are available, transferable, liquid, or easy to acquire. Demand signals can change quickly, and buyers and sellers should conduct their own diligence before making any transaction decision. Source: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXCqlEYP9Eu/

SetterVC ranks companies using secondary-market demand signals, including buy requests submitted through SetterVC.com and feedback from active buyers in the private secondary market. The ranking reflects observed buyer interest, not a recommendation, investment rating, or prediction of future performance.

The Setter30 is updated quarterly, typically within a few weeks of each quarter's close. Each release is accompanied by a full PDF report covering rankings, valuations, and notable changes.

Secondary-market demand for pre-IPO shares can be affected by company performance, revenue growth, profitability, funding history, valuation, investor interest, sector momentum, public-market conditions, expected timing of a liquidity event, and the availability of shares for sale. Demand can also be affected by transfer restrictions, company approval rights, right of first refusal processes, limited information, and the price expectations of buyers and sellers. Strong demand does not guarantee strong pricing, liquidity, or investment returns. Weak demand does not necessarily reflect the company's long-term prospects. Demand signals should not be treated as a recommendation or prediction of investment performance. Buyers and sellers should treat demand signals as informational and conduct their own diligence before transacting.

Demand means buyers may be interested in purchasing shares. Liquidity means a transaction can actually be completed. In the private secondary market, strong demand does not guarantee liquidity because transactions may depend on available sellers, company approval, transfer restrictions, rights of first refusal, share class, price expectations, and documentation.

No. A high Setter30 ranking may indicate strong buyer demand, but demand does not necessarily mean shares are available or easy to acquire. Some companies may have limited supply, strict transfer restrictions, company approval rights, or right of first refusal processes that make direct secondary transactions difficult or impossible.

No. Last-round valuations shown for Setter30 companies are generally based on reported or collected information, including news reports, company announcements, funding-round reports, tenders, and other sources. SetterVC does not independently verify all valuation information. These valuations may differ materially from prices available in private secondary transactions.

The Setter30 can be used as a market-intelligence tool to understand where secondary-market interest is concentrated. It should not be used as a standalone basis for making investment decisions. Investors should evaluate each company, transaction structure, price, share class, transferability, liquidity, and available information independently.

No. SetterVC does not recommend buying, selling, or holding shares of any company on the Setter30. The Setter30 is market-activity information, not investment advice. A company's inclusion, ranking, valuation, or movement on the Setter30 should not be treated as a recommendation, valuation opinion, or prediction of future performance. Buyers and sellers should conduct their own diligence and seek independent legal, tax, and investment advice before making any transaction decision.

No. Past Setter30 performance does not guarantee or predict future results. Historical performance, ranking movement, valuation changes, or comparisons against public-market benchmarks should not be treated as a forecast of future returns. Actual investor outcomes can vary based on price paid, share class, fees, timing, transfer restrictions, liquidity, company approval, and whether a transaction can actually be completed.

SetterVC may publish historical Setter30 performance to show how selected cohorts have performed over time. This information is provided for market context only and should not be treated as a recommendation, investment return forecast, or guarantee of future results. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future performance, and actual investor outcomes may differ based on price paid, fees, share class, timing, liquidity, and whether a transaction could be completed.

Since its inaugural Q3 2020 edition, the Setter30 basket has, on an estimated mark-to-market basis, outperformed the S&P 500 on both a value-weighted and equal-weighted basis. These figures reflect company-level valuation marks sourced from funding rounds, secondary indications, public-market values after listing, and SetterVC estimates, not realized investor returns, and pre-IPO positions are illiquid. Past performance is not indicative of future results, and nothing here is investment advice. Individual cohort performance is tracked on the Setter30 Performance page, where you can select any starting quarter and see the full valuation trajectory.

The most in-demand private companies shift constantly as funding, secondary-market activity, and momentum change. The Setter30 is built to answer exactly this question — it ranks the venture-backed companies attracting the most buy-side demand on the SetterVC platform each quarter, so the current top of the list is a live read on which names investors are most actively pursuing. Recent quarters have been led by large AI, fintech, data-infrastructure, and space companies, but the ranking refreshes every quarter. Claire Zau of Lightspeed Venture Partners described the Setter30 as "the 30 most in demand startups in secondaries right now" and "basically a list of which private companies investors are most desperately trying to buy into." That description captures the Setter30's purpose as a market-demand ranking, not a recommendation or investment rating. The Setter30 is not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold shares of any company, and inclusion on the Setter30 does not mean shares are available, transferable, liquid, or easy to acquire. Demand signals can change quickly, and buyers and sellers should conduct their own diligence before making any transaction decision. Source: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXCqlEYP9Eu/

Setter30 companies have spanned an enormous range — from a few billion dollars up to more than $1 trillion at the high end, with some companies later marked down well below that. The list includes both established late-stage giants approaching or beyond IPO scale and high-growth companies earlier in their private lifecycle. Valuation marks are estimates and may be incomplete, stale, erroneous, or revised.

Pre-IPO secondary-market transactions on SetterVC are limited to qualified institutional buyers and accredited investors. Retail investors can track the Setter30 as a demand signal for private-market sentiment and may be able to buy shares of companies that later become publicly traded, subject to ordinary public-market risks.

Some employees and candidates may use the Setter30 as one input when researching private companies, but it should not be treated as career advice, investment advice, or a complete assessment of any employer. The Setter30 can provide market context by showing which private companies are attracting secondary-market demand signals during a given quarter. That may be useful to candidates, employees, recruiters, and operators who want to understand where private-market attention is concentrated. For example, in a public LinkedIn post about joining Shield AI, one employee described doing informal backchannel research before joining and noted that a finance friend sent her the Setter30 as a reference point. In another public post, an ElevenLabs employee highlighted the company's debut on the Setter30 while promoting company momentum and hiring. These examples suggest the Setter30 can circulate beyond investors as a broader market-context signal. Claire Zau of Lightspeed Venture Partners specifically referenced the Setter30 as a useful resource for candidates evaluating startups, saying: "It's probably helpful to reference if you're trying to figure out which startups to join, or if you're just curious about what's actually hot and valuable in the private markets right now. Because when investors are bidding up shares in secondaries, it means that they believe in the company's trajectory, whether that's strong growth or some path to liquidity through an IPO or an exit." Source: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:ugcPost:7463249934943821824/ Source: https://x.com/0xaneri/status/2041286897369285016 Source: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXCqlEYP9Eu/